


Children

by LoveChilde



Series: C is for Caring [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Babysitting, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Community: purimgifts, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 22:10:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13773603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveChilde/pseuds/LoveChilde
Summary: JJ's short a 'sitter. Emily steps up to the plate.





	Children

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sapphire2309](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire2309/gifts).



> Happy Purim! This is the first of a three part series.

“I can watch them for an evening.” 

To this day. Emily Prentiss can’t say what made her say those words out loud. But they were out, and she was as puzzled as anybody.

“Really, Em? You’re…” _Not generally fond of kids_ , JJ’s expression said, though as usual she was too polite to continue the sentence.

“Sure, I can do it. One evening? I’d be happy to.”

Maybe it was because JJ looked so incredibly exhausted after handling the families of five victims in three days, or because she’d planned and waited and talked about going to see a show with Will, stars in her eyes over whoever it was they were going to see. Coming home after a week in the field (some field, Emily snorted to herself; Los Angeles) to find they had no babysitter was a blow. But it was a disappointment Emily could prevent, so she would. Even if that meant dealing with two small boys for an evening. 

JJ lit up, making the offer entirely worthwhile, whatever happened. How bad could it be, anyway?

The reality of the thing wasn’t actually that bad. Henry knew the evening routine pretty well and walked her through it, and if he cut a few corners for one evening it couldn’t hurt. She let him skip the vegetable part of dinner and finish his homework in front of the TV, and if quite a lot of Michael’s food ended up on the table, on his face and in his hair, at least some of it was in him as well by the time dinner was done. 

“Are you sure he needs a bath?” Emily asked, looking between Michael and the tub with some trepidation. 

“There’s mashed peas in his hair.” Henry pointed out with the irrefutable logic of an observant nine year old. There was, and Emily reminded herself that she’d faced armed killers and this was a small child. A small, wriggly child who did not like having his hair washed and who turned slippery when wet. That Emily managed to get through bath time without using any language a child shouldn’t hear was both a miracle and a point of pride. Finally, Michael was clean and ready for bed. 

Putting a toddler to bed was a totally new experience for Emily, and for a moment she allowed herself to think about what might’ve been, if she’d had one of her own. But that particular train was long out of the station, and she had very few regrets. By the time Michael demanded the same story for the third time, her last regret had faded and changed into gratitude that it was only the one evening. 

To Emily’s mild embarrassment, she was fast asleep when JJ and Will returned a couple of hours later. Her first words, seeing their barely-suppressed grins and Henry, asleep next to her on the sofa were; “I made them both brush their teeth first.”

“We weren’t even worried,” JJ reassured her, and it was almost true, more or less. 

JJ hummed the songs from that concert for ten days straight. 

Totally worth it. What were friends for? 

 

[](http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/Gills8/media/how-to-clean-bath-toys-e1471575901941.jpg.html)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [IShouldBeWriting](http://archiveofourown.org/users/IShouldBeWriting) for her beta work. And my apologies for the art being just an image,mI suck at art.


End file.
